Method and apparatus for removing gel



June 15, 1948. T. o. TONGUE 2,443,282

METHOD AND vAPPARATUS FOR RENOVNG GEL Filed June 7, 194.@-

Patented June 15, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE 2,443,282 METHOD AND APPA/AI'IEUS FOR REMOVING Thomas O. Tongue, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Title'` Davison Chemical Corporation, Baltimore,

Application June t, 1944; serial No. 539,165 e claims, (c1. 252-359) Thisinvention relates tothe manufacture of. a hydregel and moreparticularly hasl reference lto the removall ot al hydrogel; from a vessel in which a hydrosol is converted into a hydrogel.

Inthe manufacture oi a hydrogel, such, as .silica hydoeeli. a. hrdrosol'. formed by mixing sodium silicateand; sulphuro.; acid,v for instance, may be nu .into a Vessel. and; allowed to set into a hydro- Se Aften Sufficient, setting time has'eiapsed; the hydrogel may be dug out ofthe setting vessel aridftransferredto a washing, tankffor theremoval offthesoluble compounds suchvas sodumsulfate from the. gel. Theprior art methods of removing theggelj from theV setting vessel have` quite often resultedfinconsiderable damage to the gel and inthe productionof alarge percentage of unusblegiz'lleSf Moreover, theprior art methodsof gelneinoval.l have, not beenas eioientV and eiective asisdesirablel maintaining thecost of the eelproduot higher than is. necessary.

objectv of thisvv invention is; to providev a nietliodand appa-ratusffor removingfa hydrogel fronitavesselgin which ahydrosol-is gelled.'

Another object oiqthsinvention is toprovide aumethodzandapparatusfor removing ahydrosel threughan-.openingzinthe bottom of a vessei'in which a; hydrosol-gis.converted into a, hydrogel. v

Agfurther objectoi thisfinvention is to provide amethodfandrapparatus `for removing a hydroeel fromfavessel-inwhicha hydrosol is gelled by setting; thefgel about cores. positioned over openingsjn, the bottom of the. vessel, breaking up andfdischarging the gel-,down through a channel nrovided by removal4 ofthe .core and through the oponingnjthe bottomof thevessel.

yfeiifll.Ianotliei*object,of this invention is to prov videa'corelfor.positioningin a gel setting vessel.

Itgiszalso an .object Aofthis,inventionto provide a. core and plug combination with a lost motion connection between the4 core and plug.

With these-and other-object sin view, as will appear: morefully;l hereinafter; thepresent inve'1 1t i,on` residesinthe parts and combinations andstepsand procedureset forth in the follow- .ina description land .illustratedm the .drawings In order'toifacilitategan understanding ofthe presentinvention/- reference. is made to the ac- Comnenying 'drawings in which:

Figilll P1311 jView, OLaSetting vessel- "60nstijucted Lin'l ,accondance Withthe presenty invention.

Figure., 2.I is" a ,vertieal setional,Y view,l ofv the settinghvessel illustratedinliigure 1` of the drawings.

Figure 3 Vis an*,keiillargelil.vertical sectional view of the. coreand associated. plugY of the vpresent invention.

Eigurefl is a sectionalview takenoniline 4-4 of.v Figure 3.

In carrying out4 the present invention, av hy. drosol which may be preparedtby4 mixing-sodium silicate andsulfuric acid-.is introducedinto ay setting, vessel I. Asindicated in the drawings, the setting vessel I.A may be of circular formation and mounted upon a carriage 2 whichv is. provided with flange Wheels 3 adapted torunon-the'track 4'; For purposes of the present invention, the setting; vessel. I has been illustrated. as being mountedy on the carriage 2;for movement along the; rails.; 4, which'A is4 anY advantage` in a commercial installatonbecause a single setting'vessel may be used-for introducinga hydrogel into a plurality of Wash tanks positioned below the level of the-'rails @and in alignment therewith. On-.t-he other'handfhowever, the presentinven- .tion is notulimited` toa setting, vessel which is movable vbutl isf equallyl applicable yto a stationary Vessel of any-desired` crosslsectional congurationl,

The ,-hydrosol whiohzfor; purposes of illustration may. be a ,silicay hydrosol prepared. from sodi-um silicate; andsulfuric acidJis introduced into the settingv or. gellingvessel Il through a hose or other-conduit, 5f; This hydrogel may bek supplied to the. conduit5-from a source such asa mixer, not illustrated. t

Aseillustrated in'sFigure2 of the drawings, `the bottoni-.6 oifthe settinglvessel I is providedwith oneorimoreopenings# -Which are closed byplugs 8-. Openings land-plugs sare of tapered formation andthe-plugs 8 areprovided with a plurality ot sealing, rings 9e tot provide; a leakproofjoint Whenfthe-'plugsfarein closed position. Plugs' 8 are. connected `byehains I u orother lost motion means With cores II which are positioned direct- 1y overl theL plug 8f andl eifrertitlfieir weight upon they plugs. Coresl I extend `from thefplugs 8 Aup to kthe upperportion of thesettingvessel Land are.;maintainedy in a truly vertical position in setting. vesseLI by means of" acombined core guideand cat-walk I2 Asil-lustrated, the catwalkl2 isvprovided rwith openings I3 VWhich'are in vertical alignment with the openings? and th10ugh -which thecores II are inserted when being .placed` in` position over the openings 1.

Each plug iisof laminated wood construction and is provided with astainless steel U-bolt Ia by.means,of WhiohV the-chain Ill-'is connected thereto i Thetcorel I `is formed. of a` tubular. steel body 3 I4, the lower end of which is tapered inwardly to a smaller diameter as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. A top I5 is positioned on the upper end of the core and is bolted in place by bolts IS which extend through bracket ring II which is Welded to the body I4. Another ring Iii of L- shaped cross section vis'welded to the body It a short distance below ring Il. Brackets I9 land 20 have their lower ends welded to ring i8 and their upper portions overlapped and secured to the top I5 by the legs of a U-bolt 2l.

Spaced from but adjacent 'the bottom Aedge of f thebody I4 is a third L-shaped ring 22 welded to thebody. A plate 23 reinforcedwith an angle iron 24 is welded to the ring 22. As will be noted' 'from the drawing, the upper end of chain I0 is secured to the bottom plate '23:by1neans of a U- bolt 25 which extends through the plate 23 and reinforcement 213. g

All exposed parts of core II are coated with a layer of lead 26. vBolts and otherparts not so coated are formed of stainless steel. At-junctures of the coated and uncoated parts, seals can be effected by providing rubber Washers to prevent access of liquid, in which the core is immersed, to the interior thereof. Y f

In use, it will be necessary to weight the core II to prevent its being displaced by buoyancy and this may be effected by introducing sand or other weighting material 2l into the interior of the core through a -hand hole 28. A lower hand hole 29 is provided for access to the lower portion of the interior of the core. The lower hand hole or both may be provided with covers 38 bolted or otherwisesecured in place, and these covers are lead coated. After covers 30 are-closed, the lead coating thereon may :be burned to the coating 26.

In operation, the vessel I is positioned as desired and the cores II and the associated plugs 8 are inserted through the openings I3 in the catwalk I2 and lowered downtoward the bottom of the vessel I.- At this kpoint the plugs 8 are properly inserted within the openings 1 which is facilitated by the chain connection of the plug to the core, and the' weight of the cores II which are of metal construction and which may be filled with sand or other weighting material is allowed to rest upon the plugs 8, thereby forcing the same into tight engagement with the walls-of the open'- ings 1. Upon completion of the closure of the openings 'I and the positioning of the cores II, the hydrosol prepared as hereinbefore described is introduced through the conduit 5`into the vessel VI. After a desired quantity of thehydrosol is introduced into the vessel I the supply is shut off and the hydrosol is allowed to remain `un disturbed in the vessel I for a predetermined period of time until gelation of the hydrosol is effected. l

When the hydrosol has set into a hydrogel,l the cores II are lifted upwardly by means of a suitable hoisting mechanism and after they have been raised a predetermined distance the plugs `which are connected tothe cores II by means of a chain III or other lost motion connection are pulled from the openings l. Upon removal of the cores Il and the plugs 8 there will be provided a channel down through the hydrogel in the space from which the core was removed and this channel will communicate with the opening 'I directly beneath-the same.

After removal ofA the core II and the plug 8, particles of gel may be broken from about the upper edge 'of the cored channel and-dropped 4 down through the channel, opening 1, onto and through the grizzly or sizing screen .1a into the receiver beneath the vessel I. Also particles of gel may be broken from the upper surface ofthe gel mass and displaced over to the channel through which it is dropped. Either of these procedures is simpler than Ithe prior art methods of gel removal from setting vessels.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides an eiective method and4 operation for the setting of ahydrosol and for the removal of the hydrogel from the setting vessel.

1. Anapparatus for the setting of a hydrosol comprising a vessel having an opening in its bottom, the area vof the opening being small `relative to the area of the bottom, a closure for said opening, a core body, for positioning in the space over said opening to form, upon removal, a channel,` down through hydrogel in the fvessel,- `communicating with said opening, and a lost motion connection between the lower endrofvsaid core andclosure.v if Y- 2. A core body for forming afverticalchannel in a mass of hydrogel comprising a hollow imper-l forate cylindrical body, a lifting bail mounted on the upper portion'of said body, a bottom-closure in the lower portion of said body, and -afllling'of weighting material in said body.-v v Y vv3. A core body for forming a vertical channel in a mass of hydrogel comprising a hollow imperforate cylindrical steel body, a llifting `bail mounted on the upper portion of said body, a bottom closure in the lower portion of `said body, a coating of acid resisting material on-said body, and a filling of weighting material in said bodyl 4. A core body for forming'a, vertical' channel in a mass of hydrogel comprising ahollow iin-fl perforate cylindrical steel` body, alifting"bail mounted on the upper Vportion of said body,` a

bottom closure in the lower portion of said bod-y. a coating of lead on sai-d body, and a lling'of weighting material in saidbody. Y 5. A closure for an opening in the bottom of a hydrosol setting vessel and-a core body for forming a channel through hydrogel insaidvessel to said opening comprising a closure member-constructed for-seating in said openingin lthe bot'- tom of saidvessel, a hollow imperforate cylindrical body having a lower end positionable on said closure, said body havingfa bottom wallspac'ed from the lower end thereof to provide a recess in the lower end of said body, and flexible means connected at onevend to theiuppr portion ofsfaid closure and at the other end to said bottom wall, said flexible means being'of a length suillcient to provide relative movement between theclosure and core body. U y /m 6. An apparatus for the setting of a jhy'drofsol comprising a vessel having an opening in its'bottom, .the areaof the opening being small relative to the area of the bottom, a closure for said open; ing, a, core body for positioning in the space over said opening to form a channeLJdown through hy# drogel in thev vessel vcommunieating lwithjsaid opening, said corehaving a diameter` through# out its major portion greater` than thatofthe opening and tapering to a diameter at its bottom less than that of the opening to seat uponY said closure, and a,l lost motion connection betweerlthe lower end of the closure and the core bodyl'Q l THOMAS O. TONGUEQ;

5 REFERENCES CITED luge' The following references are of record in the 1:7513g1 le of this patent: 2,326,523

UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 Number Name Date Number 818,752 Dunn Apr. 24, 1906 230,281 1,283,000 Wallace Oct. 29, 1918 414,972 1,358,662 Wallace Nov. 9, 1920 10 826,732

Name Date Fischer Sept. 24, 1929 Bagley Mar. 18, 1930 Connolly e1; al Aug. 10, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Mar. 12, 1925 Great Britain Aug. 16, 1934 France Apr. 7, 1938 

